Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/252940
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014 11 News Inglorious attack, inglorious retreat But he scores a major goal in secur- ing his fiscal lifeline and getting a seal of EU approval. Simon Busuttil: an inglorious attack? In some ways the Opposition should feel vindicated, because the government has now accepted most of the amendments it had presented in parliament in Novem- ber: first secrecy, then investment, and now residence. The only nota- ble difference is that while the Op- position had proposed a five-year residency permit, the government has secured an EU mandate for a one-year residency period for pro- spective applicants. But by pushing too hard in the past few days, by threatening to deprive citizenship and potentially rendering applicants stateless in an apparent breach of international law, the Opposition has played its part in turning the issue into a zero-sum partisan game with no ideological grounding or principle. While the citizenship battle cry helped rally their core voter, the PN went overboard among that category of voters which is increas- ingly disappointed by the PL but which perceives Busuttil to be too tribal in his frontal attacks. While the Nationalist MEPs were perfectly entitled to criticise the Maltese government in interna- tional fora, their intense lobbying to ensure a specific reference for Malta in the European Parliament resolution did not go down well with a segment of the electorate. It smacks of gratuitous anti-gov- ernment tactics that can be easily misinterpreted as hypocrisy. Moreover in the past days, through antics like the PN media's hounding of an anonymous Chi- nese businessman at the airport, allegedly after he came to Malta to apply for naturalisation under the IIP, it became evident that PN's aim was that of scaring off appli- cants and deprive government of the cash from the scheme. This became the start of a dan- gerous game: first because the PN was not clear of whether it was in principle against the sale of Mal- tese citizenship, or whether it wanted the sale of citizenship on its own terms. Surely the Opposition is right to be concerned about the potentially corrosive impact of the scheme on Maltese democracy: not only will the money generated by the scheme help win Muscat through pork-bar- rel politics, but the influx of rich foreigners hailing from countries lacking any notion of good govern- ance also raises concerns on party financing issues. Instead of eloquently articulating these concerns, the PN went over- board in its attempt to sabotage the scheme. The PN's reputation as spoilsports may return to haunt the party if Muscat manages to reap the funds and translate them into infrastructural projects and social spending that has a positive impact on people's lives. And following its threat to revoke IIP citizenships, it has now failed in this scare-tactic once Muscat secured a seal of approval for the money-generating scheme from the Commission. Far from being a matter of prin- ciple, the PN was hesitant to at- tack the discriminatory aspect of the scheme, failing to exploit any disgruntlement on the left-wing of Labour. Essentially the only differ- ence between the two major parties now is that while the PN favours a five-year residence, Labour has ac- cepted a minimal residence period of one year. Of the three parties, only AD expressed concern on the discrimination between rich mi- grants and other migrants who ac- tually live here but do not have the money to buy citizenship. And the party's heavy-handed reaction to Kevin Plumpton's declaration that the party should withdraw its threat to revoke citi- zenships now that Muscat had achieved a Commission deal, was very revealing of the ambiguity of the PN's stance. For it was never clear whether the party is against the commodi- fication of citizenship or is simply asking for a residency period. Nei- ther has the party pronounced it- self on whether buying or renting property is an acceptable form of investment or whether citizenship should be linked to a more long- term investment resulting in actual job creation. This ambiguity could have been removed had the party presented its own policy blueprint on cit- izenship-by-investment. In the absence of this, the PN's hardline opposition risks being perceived as a tribal one. Ultimately in the zero-sum game, Simon Busuttil scored points in af- firming himself as a strong leader of an effective Opposition which forced the government to back- track on a number of fronts. But he has lost out in his overzealous battle to ensure a stillborn death for a scheme that can dead-leg its chances for re-election. It was never clear whether the PN is against the commodification of citizenship or simply wanting the IIP on its own terms Malta's permanent representative not included in Commission talks Amendment to IIP legal notice was green-lit by European Commission's legal services MIRIAM DALLI THE Commission's legal services have sanctioned an amendment to the legal notice for Malta's Individual Investor Programme, which will sell passports for €650,000, after meet- ings held with senior government officials in Brussels. Although a joint statement on Thursday announced an agreement on introducing a residency clause for applicants purchasing citizen- ship, the legal notices has yet to be published. The Nationalist Party has called for the immediate publication of the amendment that should lay down the conditions for applicants to be resident in Malta, before being awarded citizenship. The legal notice will be published in the Government Gazette tomor- row, or latest Tuesday, government sources said. Government officials remain tight- lipped about the exact duration of the 12-month residence for IIP applicants: Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has already said they do not need to be physically present for 365 days in Malta. The Commission meetings were led by a high-powered delegation tha included parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici, Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri, the deputy prime minister's chief of staff Jonathan Cardona, and the Attorney General But Malta's permanent repre- sentative Marlene Bonnici was not present for the meeting, and not even involved in any of the discus- sions – a far cry from the authority imbued in her predecessor Richard Cachia Caruana, who served as the former administration's point man in Brussels. The European Commission's legal services have green-lit the amended IIP, a government source confirmed, having sanctioned the residency amendment and approved the new passport scheme. Although it is not yet clear what the changes to the legal notice will specifically entail, the Maltese gov- ernment on Wednesday agreed to the introduction of a one-year resi- dency period following negotiations with the EC. The government also informed the Commission of its intentions to evaluate whether an increase would be made to the current capping of 1,800 main applicants. Malta has become the first mem- ber state to have its citizenship-by- investment programme sanctioned by the European Union. The amendments to the regula- tions issued under the Maltese Citi- zenship Act would confer full rights, responsibilities and full citizenship status. The Commission also claimed the introduction of "effective residence status" would serve as a genuine link between applicants and the State granting citizenship – a bone of con- tention for Brussels. According to EC statement, no certificate of naturalisation will be issued unless the applicant provides proof that he or she has resided in Malta for a period of at least 12 months immediately preceding the day of issuing of the certificate of naturalisation. But it is unclear what proof is re- quired to grant an applicant an effec- tive residence status. MaltaToday is informed the Maltese government and the European Commission's agreement on effective residence could be based on the 183-day resi- dency from the so called 'interna- tional tax law model'. The Prime Minister, on the other hand says the residency is already defined in national legislation. According to Christian Kalin, im- migration and citizenship law spe- cialist at Henley & Partners – the concessionaire for the Individual Investor Programme – it is up to the government to decide what is ac- ceptable proof of effective residence status. "Certainly, owning or renting a home in Malta will be an important element," Kalin said, when asked whether purchasing or renting a property would be considered proof enough. The legal expert said leasing or purchasing a property was in fact a precondition. The government has now called on the Opposition to withdraw the judicial protest filed against both the government and Henley & Part- ners, which forewarns IIP applicants that if the PN is in government, the scheme will be cancelled and all passports issued under the scheme will be revoked. Opposition leader Simon Busut- til has reserved his position until he sees the amended legal notice and ensures it is in line with what has been agreed with the EC. Technically speaking, a judicial protest cannot be withdrawn and that once it is lodged in Court, it be- comes a document of the Court Reg- istry. The PN would have to commit itself to a public statement to clarify its intentions. "The PN must declare that they will not nullify or take measures to try and nullify the citizenship of an individual who has successfully qualified the due diligence tests and other conditions of the IIP Pro- gramme," lawyer Mark Attard Mon- talto explained. Kalin says the PN's legal protest is "futile". "Legally, it is nonsense of gargan- tuan proportions, something I have never seen before in my entire legal career… it shows a severe lack of judgement by those who signed off on this. It also contains very dan- gerous statements for a democratic country and reflects poorly on its authors," Kalin said. "Whoever pushed for this kind of action within the Opposition should resign because it shows a severe lack of respect for democracy and the Rule of Law – the very principles on which all the member states and the EU are founded." mdalli@mediatoday.com.mt Chris Kalin has dubbed the PN's judicial protest on the IIP as 'nonsense of gargantuan proportions' Vivane Reding